


101 Ways to Fix Your Sink

by bheurach



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Gen, Hair Washing, Past Abuse, Past Torture
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-09
Packaged: 2019-07-28 13:57:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16243049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bheurach/pseuds/bheurach
Summary: Nott and Caleb find out that the house they're squatting in has running water.





	101 Ways to Fix Your Sink

**Author's Note:**

> Unbated: All mistakes are homegrown & organic.
> 
> Sometimes you need something tender to sooth your heart after watching critical role, and possibly being in love with your best friend.

The house they’re squatting in has running water for once, even if they only functional sink is in the kitchen and the toilet doesn't really flush all the time. Nott screamed when she discovered that the plumbing was still in somewhat working order, she hadn’t expected clear water to gush out of the open hole for a faucet as soon as she started messing around with the nobs. Caleb came running his hands alight with potential magic that sputtered out as soon as he saw water bubbling up from a broken sink. 

“I’m sorry Caleb, I didn’t think it was gonna work! And all this cold water just shot up at me!”

When Caleb returned from the library to a house in disarray, the furniture that had occupied most of the bedrooms upstairs had been relocated to the front room and a small pile of cleaning supplies lay abandoned on the landing. Nott’s mask was hung from a key hook by the door and her hoodie sat in a large pile beneath it claimed by Frumpkin. He knocked on the wall letting her know that he was home before venturing up the stairs. Obviously she hadn’t heard because when he opened the door to what had once been the master bedroom Nott whirled around clutching her knife. As soon as the image Caleb’s ratty leather jacket and threadbare jeans registered in Nott’s mind she dropped her defensive stance and turned back to the window that she had been trying to open before Caleb had startled her. As he walked across the floor towards her he noticed that his boots didn’t leave prints in the dust because they now reflected the weak afternoon sunlight that slipped through the boarded up windows. Nott felt Caleb settle into place behind her and together they pushed up the sticky window letting in a blast of warm of Quen’pillar air in. 

“I have a list of things we’re going to need.”

Nott is perched on a chair that she’d dragged into the kitchen specially for this. Frumpkin and Nott’s eyes followed his every movement. Armed with the knowledge from a single trip the the library and the parts that Nott had stolen, Caleb was attempting to install a faucet. Nott’s fingers stilled in Frumpkins fur and they both tensed in case a expeditious retreat was in order. Caleb glanced over his shoulder to confirm that his jacket and books were out of the splash zone before he cautiously turned on the cold water. A rattle echoed through the pipes before a couch and a spurt of water came out. Caleb didn’t even have a chance to breath out a sigh of annoyance before a steady stream of clear water burst out of the tap. Nott’s wiry arms wrapped around his waist momentarily.

“I knew you could do it Caleb!”

Nott used the step stool that Caleb had brought back with him during a wicked ce storm that was uncharacteristic of the mild Cuersaar they had been having. She scrambles up onto the counter with one hand, finally releasing her bounty. Women’s 2-1 shampoo and a clean dish towel. She carefully kept her eyes on the long list of compounds in the bottle, trying to give Caleb all the privacy she can even if she won’t be able to avoid looking at him in a few moments. She pops the lid of the shampoo and smells it just to stall some more, artificially sweet watermelon suits him in some way she can’t put her finger on. When Caleb joins her at the sink he’s down to his boxers and thick woollen socks, Nott bites her lip drawing blood and tries to believe her heart’s racing because she’s nervous about the water. As she pours the water over this head to wet his hair she keeps her eyes off the scars she knows are there, scars that she’s inflicted before, and instead measures out what turns out to be too much shampoo and leathering it into Caleb’s hair. The white suds quickly turn brown and the water that runs off as Nott rinses his hair is almost black with dirt, she has to wash it twice more before the water runs clear. Nott knows when she’s not welcome and when he turns his back to her and starts folding up the dish towel she decides to make herself scarce. Before she can slip out the back door he call out to her.

“Thank you”

When she comes back to the house silently slipping into the room and being careful not to disturb the alarm that marks the boundary, with pockets a little heavier and closer to empty then she would like. She trips over Frumpkin. The resulting crash is loud enough that Nott is sure people living across the city could hear it, it’s definitely enough to wake Caleb who immediately sends out dancing lights to illuminate the intruder. Instead it was Nott splayed on the ground clutching her newly skinned knee. Caleb slipped out from their collection of blankets and two sleeping bags to inspect her injury. Frumpkin watched coolly from his new spot at the foot of Caleb’s side of the bed. Chuckling tiredly Caleb scooped Nott up after removing her shoes and outer layers, and carried her to the bed. Curled up in a tight ball Nott allowed herself to take in how the slowly shifting lights made Caleb’s clean dry hair look like dancing flames. After Caleb dispelled the light he shifted to face her, his hand blindly searching for her in the dark. Nott watched as their fingers threaded together, her small claw tipped fingers almost consumed by his larger hand, the contrast between their skin seemed less in the dark where everything became grayscale in the dark of the new moons. Nott listens to Caleb's shallow breathing that begins to deepen and even out before whispering.

“Caleb”

“Yes Nott?”

“I think you look nice clean, your hair is so pretty it’s like firelight.”

His hand squeezed hers hard once and and then softened and his thumb brushed over her hand in a soothing motion.

“Thank you Nott, I….” he paused and a falter in the rhythm of his movement then, “I like it too”

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully this will become something larger I just need to figure out how the hell you write dialogue. If you want a thousand words of purple prose with eight lines of dialogue total you know who to ask. If anyone was interested the sink they have is a giant white metal double bowl stand alone farm house sink that is based on the one I have in my house that is working but dosen't have a tap so if you turn it on it just gushes water every where. It was an unpleasant surprise to learn that it still worked after about ten years of no use. I have plans for another chapter more about Nott and a possible introduction of the Mighty Nein.
> 
> Tumblr: widonott (CR), bheurach (main)


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